Island Health Episodes

On today's episode, guest Luigi Leblanc, a doctoral student at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, shares his research findings on data modernization across the territories. Leblanc highlights why data interoperability, governance, and workforce stability are critical to residents' health care in island areas.

On today's episode, ASTHO's Joseph Kanter and Andy Baker-White highlight takeaways from the Executive Leadership Forum and the legislative actions advancing public health in island jurisdictions.

On today's episode, ASTHO’s Andy Baker-White explains why Immunization Information Systems are essential to modern public health, and what lawmakers and the public should understand as policy debates continue.

On today's episode, Melissa Sever from the Public Health Accreditation Board tells us about the Strengthening Public Health Workforce Capacity in Island Jurisdictions Project and the unique workforce challenges facing island jurisdictions.

Today, ASTHO Senior Analyst for Environmental Health Shelbi Davis shares how island communities are navigating some of the most severe climate-related health risks in the world, with limited infrastructure and strained public health systems.

Today: bringing oral health into the public health conversation with Flora Nathan, assistant secretary for the Bureau of Oral Health in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. At her first ASTHO Spring Leadership Forum, Flora shares a candid look at the challenges and opportunities of delivering oral healthcare across a U.S. remote island nation. From severe workforce shortages and long clinic wait times to the ripple effects on families, schools, and local economies, she highlights how oral health is deeply connected to broader public health outcomes. She also discusses the importance of integrating oral health into maternal and child health programs, school-based care, and community outreach, as well as the realities of operating without consistent funding.

On today's episode, Victor Ramos Otero, secretary of health for Puerto Rico, joins the show to discuss the urgent challenges facing the island’s health care system.

At this year’s ASTHO Spring Leadership Forum, Gaafar Uherbelau, advisor to the president of Palau and former minister of Health and Human Services, shared the story behind a long-awaited solution to a quiet but growing challenge in public health. Palau’s new transition facility is designed for individuals who are medically cleared to leave the hospital but have nowhere to go or no one to care for them. What sounds like a simple fix is actually the result of decades of cultural shifts, resource c...

On today's episode, Eleanor Cabrera from the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands shares how telehealth is helping transform care delivery in island jurisdictions.

On today's episode, Justa Encarnacion, ASTHO member and commissioner of health for the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Health, shared how island jurisdictions are tackling some of the nation’s toughest health challenges using real-time data, advanced training, and wastewater surveillance.

In today's PHIG Impact Report, Esther Ellis, territorial epidemiologist for the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Health, shares how Public Health Infrastructure Grant funding is transforming the territory’s health data systems, and why that matters far beyond technology.

Two very different challenges, and one shared public health reality: systems have to work when it matters most. In this episode, we speak with Dr. Erica Pan, director and state public health officer for the California Department of Public Health, and ASTHO member, about a rare and unprecedented infant botulism outbreak linked to contaminated infant formula. She explains how California’s unique BabyBIG® treatment program, home to the only infant botulism treatment in the world, helped detect a national pattern, how states coordinated with CDC and FDA, and the logistical strain of managing treatment supply, clinician hotlines, and public communication during a fast-moving emergency. Then, Alex Wheatley, senior director of island support at ASTHO, joins us to discuss a different kind of pressure point: helping U.S. Island jurisdictions navigate complex federal grant systems. She outlines a new resource designed to bridge gaps between federal funders and local health agencies, reduce misu…

For the first time, all eight U.S. territories and freely associated states have been included in PH-WINS, or the Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey. Rachel Hare Bork joins the show to discuss how this landmark pilot effort came together, why it took extensive travel and collaboration to make it happen, and what the results reveal about the public health workforce across the islands.

Helen Linda, public health workforce development coordinator at the Vermont Department of Health, explains the value of academic health departments and shares how she worked with the Public Health Foundation to assess the current state of her agency’s experiential learning environment; Emman Parian, immunization program manager for the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation of the Northern Mariana Islands, discusses...

Dr. Susan Kansagra, chief medical officer at ASTHO, discusses some of the downstream implications of CDC’s adoption of recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices earlier this week; Dr. Holly Wilcox, founder and director of the Center for Suicide Prevention and professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, shares...

Halina Palacios, chief operations officer for population health at the Commonwealth Health Care Corporation in the territory of the Northern Mariana Islands, discusses a recent population health summit specifically for Pacific public health teams; Carolyn Mullen, ASTHO’s senior vice president of government affairs and public relations, breaks down how the potential government shutdown could impact access to public health funds...

Christy Roby, local public health performance section supervisor with Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, explains how her agency developed a new technical assistance infrastructure referral system; Chelsea Cipriano, managing director of the Common Health Coalition...

Dawn Shanafelt, director of the division of maternal and infant health for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, shares the policies and program that helped the state record its lowest infant mortality rate on record; Dulce Mendoza, senior analyst of island support at ASTHO, explains...

Aileen Benavente-Pangelinan, environmental health program manager at the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation, describes how the new food code adopted by the Northern Mariana Islands will improve public health safety; Jessica Hulsey, founder and CEO of the Addiction Policy Forum, explains...

Dr. Joseph Kanter, ASTHO CEO, shares how ASTHO will use the Public Health Workforce Interest and Needs Survey (PH WINS) to guide national public health priorities; Emma Pliskin, research scientist at Child Trends, shares what their new study reveals about trends in STI testing...

Dr. Allison Arwady, director at the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the CDC, details a recent webinar focused on mental health and overdose prevention; Beth Giambrone, ASTHO senior analyst for state health policy, explains..

Dr. Anna-Michelle McSorley, assistant professor in the Department of Allied Health Sciences at the University of Connecticut, details the findings of her recent study on quality of life indicators in three U.S. territories and explains the importance of data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; Christina Severin, director of public health law at ASTHO, discusses her role on the State Health Policy team...

Andy Baker-White, ASTHO senior director for state health policy, is the first member of ASTHO’s state health policy team to be featured in the 'Get To Know ASTHO' segment; Ken Harrison, workforce development director with the Alabama Department of Public Health...

In today's PHIG Impact Report, Moses Pretrick, assistant secretary for the Department of Health & Social Affairs with the Federated States of Micronesia, explains how the Public Health Infrastructure Grant has worked for his team.